Wearable and Noninvasive Device for Integral Congestive Heart Failure Management in the IoMT Paradigm.

Noninvasive remote monitoring of hemodynamic variables is essential in optimizing treatment opportunities and predicting rehospitalization in patients with congestive heart failure. The objective of this study is to develop a wearable bioimpedance-based device, which can provide continuous measurement of cardiac output and stroke volume, as well as other physiological parameters for a greater prognosis and prevention of congestive heart failure. The bioimpedance system, which is based on a robust and cost-effective measuring principle, was implemented in a CMOS application specific integrated circuit, and operates as the analog front-end of the device, which has been provided with a radio-frequency section for wireless communication. The operating parameters of the proposed wearable device are remotely configured through a graphical user interface to measure the magnitude and the phase of complex impedances over a bandwidth of 1 kHz to 1 MHz. As a result of this study, a cardiac activity monitor was implemented, and its accuracy was evaluated in 33 patients with different heart diseases, ages, and genders. The proposed device was compared with a well-established technique such as Doppler echocardiography, and the results showed that the two instruments are clinically equivalent.

Early Renal Function Alterations in Renal Branches vs. Renal Fenestrations - A Dynamic Scintigraphy Based Prospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this prospective single centre study was to assess whether branches and fenestrations have different outcomes on renal function in the early phase. METHODS: From March 2018 to June 2019, 67 patients who underwent elective fenestrated and branched endovascular aneurysm repair (F/BEVAR) procedures were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into two groups according to the renal bridging component configuration (fenestration vs. branch). All of them underwent dynamic renal scintigraphy with 99mTc diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), two weeks pre-operatively, and three months and one year post-operatively. The primary end points were peri-procedural technical success, 30 day major adverse events, differences in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) between the branch and fenestration configurations, and variations between the pre-operative and the post-operative dynamic renal scintigraphy. RESULTS: Overall, 135 kidneys were analysed: 63 in the 32 patients treated with fenestrations, and 72 in the 35 patients treated with branches; the mean GFR on baseline scintigraphy was 58.4 ± 30.9 mL/min in the fenestration group, and 65.1 ± 29.2 mL/min in the branch group. Only kidneys associated with a patent fenestration/branch were included in the split GFR final analysis. The mean total GFR at three month scintigraphy decreased by 6.0 ± 2.9 mL/min in the fenestration group and by 23.4 ± 6.4 mL/min in the branch group. The split GFR decreased by 3.5 ± 0.6 mL/min in the fenestration group, and by 15.4 ± 5.4 mL/min in the branch group. The GFR decrease remained stable at one year. CONCLUSION: In this study, the use of branches for renal arteries during F/BEVAR resulted in a greater decrease in the GFR than in those patients who were treated with fenestrations alone. The scintigraphic alterations were evident at an early phase.

EVAR with Aortic Placement of a Single JOTEC E-iliac Stent-graft System in a Patient with Poliomyelitis Aortoiliac Deformities.

Small-sized vessels can represent a contraindication to standard endovascular aortic repair (EVAR), and more specifically, aortoiliac deformities resulting from poliomyelitis may add an adjunctive challenge for total endovascular repair. Herein we report a case of a 62-year-old man with a 55 mm abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and a history of poliomyelitis. More specifically, a computed tomography angiogram (CTA) showed a very narrow infrarenal aortic neck, measuring 13 mm in maximum diameter, and severely atrophic external iliac and common femoral arteries. A total endovascular repair was planned and realized with a single aortic JOTEC iliac branch and contralateral VBX placement. All prosthetic materials were delivered from the nonatrophic side. At the 1-year CTA, the aneurysm was successfully excluded and both iliofemoral axes were patent.

The "Destino-guided BEVAR" to Catheterize Downward Branches from a Femoral Access: Technical Note and Case Report.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to report the Destino-guided branched endovascular aortic repair approach as a valid alternative to catheterization downward branches in complex aortic arch/descending thoracic anatomies. METHODS & RESULTS: A 53-year-old woman with Marfan syndrome underwent a thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) repair for a type III dissecting aneurysm. A custom repair with an endograft having 3 fenestrations (for renal arteries and superior mesenteric artery) and 1 branch for the celiac trunk was planned. The right axillary artery was chronically occluded; the left subclavian artery (LSA) was aneurysmatic. The catheterization of the celiac trunk branch was demanding but ultimately a bare stent was used as a bridging component between the graft and the target vessel, for spinal cord preconditioning. At the 2-month computed tomography angiography, when planning the relining of the bare metal stent, a 1 cm increase in diameter of the LSA aneurysm was documented and therefore a Destino-guided branched endovascular aortic repair was planned. This approach consists of branch catheterization via femoral access using the Destino steerable guiding sheath inside which, after bending, a smaller Cook Flexor is placed to easily deliver the stent, while maintaining stability. CONCLUSIONS: The Destino-guided branched endovascular aortic repair is a reproducible and effective alternative to the classic catheterization of side branches via brachial/axillary access allowing their completion from a femoral access.

Global Post-Market Clinical Follow-up of the Treovance Stent-Graft for Endovascular Aneurysm Repair: One-Year Results From the RATIONALE Registry.

PURPOSE:: To evaluate the safety and performance of the Treovance stent-graft. METHODS:: The global, multicenter RATIONALE registry ( ClinicalTrials.gov; identifier NCT03449875) prospectively enrolled 202 patients (mean age 73.0±7.8 years; 187 men) with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) suitable for endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) using the Treovance. The composite primary safety endpoint was site-reported all-cause mortality and major morbidity. The primary efficacy outcome was clinical success. Further outcomes evaluated included technical success; stent-graft migration, patency, and integrity; endoleak; and aneurysm size changes. RESULTS:: Technical success was 96% (194/202); 8 patients had unresolved type I endoleaks at the end of the procedure. There was no 30-day mortality and 1% major morbidity (1 myocardial infarction and 1 bowel ischemia). Clinical success at 1 year was confirmed in 194 (96%) patients; 6 of 8 patients had new/persistent endoleaks and 2 had aneurysm expansion without identified endoleak. A total of 8 (4%) reinterventions were required during the mean 13.7±3.1 months of follow-up (median 12.8). At 1 year, the Kaplan-Meier estimate for freedom from reintervention was 95.6% (95% CI 91.4% to 97.8%). Other estimates were 95.5% (95% CI 91.7% to 97.6%) for freedom from endoleak type I/III and 97.4% (95% CI 94.2% to 98.9%) for freedom from aneurysm expansion. Thirteen (6.4%) patients died; no death was aneurysm related. CONCLUSION:: The RATIONALE registry showed favorable safety and clinical performance of the Treovance stent-graft for the treatment of infrarenal AAAs in a real-world setting.

[Burden of caregivers of aged patients at a hospital acute care unit and role of the psychologist in the management of the "fragile" caregiver]. / Burden del caregiver di anziani ricoverati in una unità operativa ospedaliera per acuti e ruolo dello psicologo nella gestione del caregiver "fragile".

INTRODUCTION: the purpose was to investigate and describe the subjective burden perceived by caregivers of elderly patients affected by multiple pathologies admitted to an acute ward and to consider the necessity of intervention with special reference to the analysis of psychological support need. METHODS: a sample of 100 caregivers of elderly patients admitted to Geriatrics ward was interviewed using two instruments assessing care burden: the Family Strain Questionnaire--Short Form (FSQ-SF) and the Anxiety and Depression Short Scale (AD-R). RESULTS: the FSQ-SF highlighted that 7% of caregivers showed adequate coping abilities to face the stress related to illness; 21% of caregivers could require psychological counselling intervention; for 48% an intervention of psychological evaluation and support was recommended; for 24% the psychological intervention became urgent. Results from the AD-R showed that 36% and 10.5% of interviewed caregivers felt clinically significant levels of anxiety and depression. Despite psychological support need was widely spread (93%), only 35% of caregivers would like to go to a specialist, 18% would like to have more information about how to receive individual psychological support. CONCLUSIONS: results from caregiver burden analysis highlight a paradox which can be defined as an unexpressed need by family members: needing more support from health care services doesn't turn into a tangible demand for intervention. This remark raises some questions: understanding the reasons of such refusing behaviour towards the opportunity of applying specialists in psychological support and identifying which health services could be improved in order to satisfy caregivers needs.

Late failure of a Nellix endoprosthesis treated with the t-Branch off-the-shelf multibranched stent graft.

A 66-year-old man arrived at our emergency department 3 years after an endovascular aneurysm sealing procedure performed at another center. Computed tomography angiography showed distal migration of a Nellix endoprosthesis (Endologix, Irvine, Calif) and a posterior contained rupture. The left kidney was excluded by an occluded iliac-left renal bypass, which was performed at the time of the Nellix implantation because of unintended coverage. A t-Branch (Cook Medical, Bloomington, Ind) was implanted in an emergency, but the delivery caused disruption of the Nellix limb, requiring relining. Target vessels were bridged with VBX stents (W. L. Gore & Associates, Flagstaff, Ariz). The postoperative course was uneventful except for renal function impairment that was restored 2 weeks later.

A wireless multi-channel bioimpedance measurement system for personalized healthcare and lifestyle.

Miniaturized, noninvasive, wearable sensors constitute a fundamental prerequisite for pervasive, predictive, and preventive healthcare systems. In this sense, this paper presents the design, realization, and evaluation of a wireless multi-channel measurement system based on a cost-effective high-performance integrated circuit for electrical bioimpedance (EBI) measurements in the frequency range from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. The resulting on-chip spectrometer provides high measuring EBI capabilities and together with a low-cost, commercially available radio frequency transceiver device. It provides reliable wireless communication, constitutes the basic node to build EBI wireless sensor networks (EBI-WSNs). The proposed EBI-WSN behaves as a high-performance wireless multi-channel EBI spectrometer, where the number of channels is completely scalable and independently configurable to satisfy specific measurement requirements of each individual. A prototype of the EBI node leads to a very small printed circuit board of approximately 8 cm2 including chip-antenna, which can operate several years on one 3-V coin cell battery and make it suitable for long-term preventive healthcare monitoring.